Alsó-Fehér County Explained

Conventional Long Name:Alsó-Fehér County
Common Name:Alsó-Fehér
Subdivision:County
Nation:the Principality of Transylvania
(1744-1867)
County the Kingdom of Hungary
(1867-1920)
Year Start:1744
Event1:Treaty of Trianon
Date Event1:4 June 1920
Capital:Gyulafehérvár

Nagyenyed (1876-1920)
Stat Area1:3,576.5
Stat Pop1:221618
Stat Year1:1910
Today:Romania
Footnotes:Alba Iulia; Aiud are the current name of the capital.

Alsó-Fehér was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in western Romania (central Transylvania). The latest capital of the county was Nagyenyed (present-day Aiud).

Geography

Alsó-Fehér county shared borders with Hunyad, Torda-Aranyos, Kis-Küküllő, Nagy-Küküllő and Szeben counties. The rivers Mureș and Târnava flowed through the county. Its area was 3,576.5 km2 around 1910.

History

Alsó-Fehér (Lower Fehér) county was formed when Fehér county was split in 1744 (the other half, Felső-Fehér county, consisted entirely of enclaves between Székely and Saxon seats). In 1876, when the administrative structure of Transylvania was changed, the territory of Alsó-Fehér was modified and parts of it were annexed to the counties of Torda-Aranyos and Seben (during the same administrative reform, Felső-Fehér county was entirely abolished and merged with other counties). In 1920, the Treaty of Trianon assigned the territory of the county to Romania. Its territory lies in the present Romanian counties of Alba, Sibiu (the south-east) and Mureș (a small northeastern part).

Demographics

Population by mother tongue! Census !! Total !! Romanian !! Hungarian !! German !! Other or unknown
1880[1] 178,021 135,439 (78.79%) 25,818 (15.02%) 6,972 (4.06%) 3,667 (2.13%)
1890[2] 193,072 151,397 (78.41%) 30,181 (15.63%) 7,539 (3.90%) 3,955 (2.05%)
1900[3] 212,352 166,099 (78.22%) 36,360 (17.12%) 7,953 (3.75%) 1,940 (0.91%)
1910[4] 221,618 171,483 (77.38%) 39,107 (17.65%) 7,269 (3.28%) 3,759 (1.70%)
Population by religion! Census !! Total !! Eastern Orthodox !! Greek Catholic !! Calvinist !! Roman Catholic !! Lutheran !! Jewish !! Other or unknown
1880178,021 76,165 (42.78%) 66,714 (37.48%) 16,834 (9.46%) 8,551 (4.80%) 5,961 (3.35%) 2,806 (1.58%) 990 (0.56%)
1890193,072 80,353 (41.62%) 74,132 (38.40%) 19,472 (10.09%) 8,943 (4.63%) 5,813 (3.01%) 3,280 (1.70%) 1,079 (0.56%)
1900212,352 87,210 (41.07%) 80,211 (37.77%) 21,296 (10.03%) 11,226 (5.29%) 7,170 (3.38%) 3,903 (1.84%) 1,336 (0.63%)
1910221,618 89,724 (40.49%) 85,276 (38.48%) 23,009 (10.38%) 11,194 (5.05%) 7,283 (3.29%) 3,845 (1.73%) 1,287 (0.58%)

Subdivisions

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Alsó-Fehér county were:

Districts (járás)
DistrictCapital
AlvincAlvinc (now Vințu de Jos)
BalázsfalvaBalázsfalva (now Blaj)
KisenyedKisenyed (now Ocna Sibiului)
MagyarigenMagyarigen (now Ighiu)
MarosújvárMarosújvár (now Ocna Mureș)
NagyenyedNagyenyed (now Aiud)
Tövis Tövis (now Teiuș)
VerespatakVerespatak (now Roșia Montană)
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú városok)
Abrudbánya (now Abrud)
Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia)
Nagyenyed (now Aiud)
Vízakna (now Ocna Sibiului)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Az 1881. év elején végrehajtott népszámlálás főbb eredményei megyék és községek szerint rendezve, II. kötet (1882) . library.hungaricana.hu . 2021-09-28.
  2. Web site: A Magyar Korona országainak helységnévtára (1892) . library.hungaricana.hu . 2021-09-29.
  3. Web site: A MAGYAR KORONA ORSZÁGAINAK 1900 . library.hungaricana.hu . 2021-09-29.
  4. Web site: KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár . Kt.lib.pte.hu . 2021-09-29.